Electricity and Electronic Equipments in Indonesia

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Indonesia uses 220 Volt for its electricity. (Few years ago, the voltage was 110V. But then we switched to 220 Volts.) The voltage in many places is unstable. If you plan to bring computer, for example, you have to get a voltage stabilisator ("stavolt" is one famous brand) or a UPS. Stavolt costs from Rp. 500,000 and up (assuming US$1 = Rp 10.000,-, so that's US$50). A Japanese brand would cost around Rp. 300,000 (more these days) for 500 watt. For other electrical equipments that are not so sensitive to voltage variation, it should be okay. In many rural villages, electricity is still unavailable. Houses have small wattage. My house for example has 2500 watt. This is considered normal or big. Many houses have 450 watt. (Some people steal electricity directly from the power line.) If you plan to bring clothing iron, hair dryer, cooker, vacuum cleaner, and other equipments that require high power, make sure it is below 450 watt or you may never be able to use it in Indonesia. The electrical outlet has two round holes, similar to those in continental Europe. A picture of the electrical outlet is shown on the left. I took the picture from my house. (Here is a page on various electrical plus used in many countries. Thanks to Calvin Wong from Intel for providing the pointer.) As a comparison, North America has three holes; two thin and one round. You may want to bring a converter or buy locally. Many stores sell those converters. You can get almost any electronic equipments in Indonesia. Even high-tech entertainment center, Laser Disc, VCD, DVD, you name it, you can find it in Indonesia. Most of them are imported from Taiwan and China. A VCD player (unknown brand), for example, costs around Rp 300,000 (or US$30). Very cheap. You can get lots of pirated, bootleged, VCDs for Rp 10.000 (or US$1) a piece. Now, I've seen some pirated DVDs as well. back to main page